The Patent Bar Exam: How It Works, Who Can Take It, Costs and Pass Rates

Sources: Registration examination (USPTO); Becoming a patent practitioner; OED FAQs; exam statistics; GRB, Parts IX and X.

No law degree is required. You must show the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) that you have the scientific and technical training to serve patent applicants, and OED must find good moral character and reputation (37 C.F.R. § 11.7(a)). The General Requirements Bulletin (GRB) sets out four ways to show the technical training:

• Category A: a bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. in one of the listed subjects, such as biology, chemistry, physics, computer science (a bachelor of science from an accredited school only) or an engineering discipline, from an accredited U.S. school or the foreign equivalent.
• Category B: a bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. in another subject, with equivalent scientific and technical training shown through one of four coursework options or other qualifying training or education.
• Category C: practical engineering or scientific experience, shown by passing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) test, plus a transcript showing a bachelor's degree.
• Category D: a bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. in a recognized design subject, such as industrial design or graphic design (or an equivalent), from an accredited U.S. school or the foreign equivalent; it leads to registration for design patent practice only.

Every category needs an official transcript; a diploma or a copy is not accepted. OED does not evaluate qualifications by phone before you apply. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents may be registered for all patent matters (design-only registration under § 11.6(d) is for U.S. citizens); other non-citizens in the United States may seek limited recognition under 37 C.F.R. § 11.9(b). The details, including the credit options, are in patent bar requirements.

Sources: GRB, Parts I and III; 37 C.F.R. § 11.7, § 11.6; Becoming a patent practitioner; OED FAQs.

1. Apply to OED. File online through the Exam Applicant Portal or by mail on Form PTO-158, with the $118 application fee, the $226 examination fee and your official transcripts. Both fees are due with the application. There is no filing deadline.
2. Wait for OED's review. It typically takes four weeks or less. An incomplete application is considered only if OED receives the completed application within 60 days of the mailing date of the notice of incompleteness.
3. Get your admission notice. It sets a window to schedule and take the exam. The USPTO's summary calls the window generally about 90 days, but OED has temporarily set it to 180 days until further notice. Each 90-day extension costs $124; OED must receive the request and fee before the current window expires.
4. Schedule with Prometric online, by phone or with a test center, and pay Prometric's $221 fee when you book. The GRB urges booking promptly, because some sites fill quickly.
5. Take the exam. If you take both sessions on one day, you see an unofficial result on screen when you finish; candidates who test over two days (an accommodation) get official results only.
6. Receive official results, typically mailed within 5 business days. Passing candidates also get instructions to complete registration.
7. File for registration within two years of the mailing date of the notice that you passed: the Data Sheet, an oath or declaration, and the $226 registration fee. Missing that two-year deadline means passing the exam again. To be registered as a patent attorney, also file a certificate of good standing from the bar of a state's highest court, no more than six months old; without it, an otherwise qualified applicant is registered as an agent.
8. Character review and certificate. OED publishes the names and addresses of those who passed for 45 days of comment. Absent adverse information, the USPTO says the certificate of registration generally arrives about three months after you pass.

Until OED gives final approval you may not hold yourself out as a registered practitioner.

Sources: Becoming a patent practitioner; Registration examination; GRB, Parts IV, VII, X and XIV; OED FAQs; routine processing times; 37 C.F.R. § 11.7(b), § 11.8.

Passing on a first attempt without an extension costs $791 in these fees ($118 + $226 + $221 + $226). Each retake means a new application with the $118 and $226 fees, and Prometric's fee when you schedule again.

Sources: 37 C.F.R. § 1.21(a); Becoming a patent practitioner; OED FAQs.

• 100 multiple-choice questions, each with five choices, in two three-hour sessions of 50: six hours of testing.
• 90 are scored. Ten are beta questions being tested for future exams; they are spread through the exam, not identified and not scored.
• You pass with 70% of the scored questions: 63 of 90. Each scored question has been used on earlier exam forms and analyzed before it counts.
• A 15-minute tutorial comes first, there is an optional one-hour lunch break between sessions, and a 15-minute survey follows. No other breaks are scheduled; you may take one, but the clock keeps running.

Six hours for 100 questions leaves 3.6 minutes a question on average.

Sources: Registration examination (USPTO); GRB, Parts IX and X.

The GRB says the exam tests knowledge of patent laws, rules and procedures, and the ability to apply them to facts in order to help patent applicants prepare and prosecute their applications; the Director's authority to require those qualifications is 35 U.S.C. § 2(b)(2)(D). It may include questions on the ethical and professional conduct rules for registered practitioners.

The USPTO tells applicants to know the patent laws, the rules of practice in Parts 1, 3, 11, 41 and 42 of Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and the procedures in the MPEP (the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure). Where a published rule or policy conflicts with the MPEP, the rule or policy controls.

The questions are based on the published source materials:

• the MPEP, Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024, published November 2024; its updated sections reflect guidance in effect on or before January 31, 2024, so later policy changes are not in it;
• the Consolidated Trial Practice Guide, November 2019 (PTAB trials);
• the 2013 final rules on representation of others before the USPTO;
• the notice implementing the Global and IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway programs.

Sources: GRB, Part IX; source materials (updated May 29, 2026); MPEP change summary; 35 U.S.C. § 2.

The USPTO says it updated the registration examination on September 23, 2026, and that the updated exam covers the subject matter in the source materials, including MPEP Revision 01.2024. Its announcement does not say what changed in the questions, and we do not guess.

• The source materials list was last updated May 29, 2026. It names the four documents above, and the USPTO asks applicants to check it regularly, including during their exam window, because it may be revised.
• Under the GRB, OED announces in the Official Gazette and on the USPTO's website the date on which updated reference materials begin appearing on the exam; the website announcement also names the MPEP version and other reference materials the questions are based on.
• The USPTO's exam page, which announces the update, still describes 100 questions and the 70% pass mark, and the current fee rule lists the USPTO fees in this guide (the Prometric charges come from the USPTO's process summary and FAQs).

Sources: Registration examination; source materials; GRB, Part IX; 37 C.F.R. § 1.21(a).

• Arrive 30 minutes early for check-in. Late arrivals are not admitted, and a no-show forfeits the fees paid to the USPTO.
• Bring a current, valid state or federal government ID with your photograph and signature, such as a driver's license or passport, with your name exactly as on line 1b of your application. An admission letter is not accepted as ID.
• The reference materials, including the MPEP, are on the computer that delivers the questions. Their external links are removed during the exam, and there is no access to websites.
• You may not bring documents, notes, study materials, your own scratch paper or electronic devices into the exam; Prometric provides a locker for items not allowed in the testing area, and gives you scratch paper and a pencil, which it collects at the end.
• Every candidate signs a non-disclosure agreement. Disclosing exam content, or substantially similar content, is prohibited, and OED treats it as bearing on good moral character (37 C.F.R. § 11.7(g)(2)).
• If you need an accommodation for a mental or physical medical condition, request it on Form PTO-158RA, ideally with your application, supported by a licensed health care professional's statement and/or other acceptable medical evidence.

Because the MPEP is on screen, our advice is to practice finding the right section quickly as well as learning the rules.

Sources: GRB, Parts VIII, IX and X; Registration examination; source materials.

If you take both sessions on one day, you see an unofficial result at the test center when you finish: passing candidates are told they passed without a score, and others see their percentage correct. Candidates who test over two days get no unofficial result. Official results are typically mailed within 5 business days.

Results are final: there is no regrade (37 C.F.R. § 11.7(e)). If you fail, you may review the scored questions you answered incorrectly (not skipped ones) within 60 days of the mailing of the results notice, in a 2.5-hour session ($300 at Prometric or $505 at the USPTO). After passing, you must file the registration papers and fee within two years of the mailing date of the notice that you passed, or you must pass the exam again.

Sources: Registration exam results and statistics; OED FAQs; 37 C.F.R. § 11.7; GRB, Part XIV; Becoming a patent practitioner.

The USPTO publishes the number of exams given and the share passed for each fiscal year:

The figures count exams, not people, so a candidate who sat twice counts twice. The number of exams rose each year from fiscal 2022 to 2026, while the pass rate held between 46% and 49%. The USPTO's page lists these five years only.

Source: Registration exam results and statistics (updated October 1, 2026).

To retake the exam you file a new application and pay the $118 and $226 fees again; documents already on file need not be sent again, but changed answers must be updated. The rules require 30 days between attempts after a first or second failure and 90 days after a third or fourth, and a petition for a sixth attempt. A notice dated April 14, 2026 waived those § 11.7(b)(2) limits (the longer wait and the five-attempt limit) for twelve months and until further notice; a new window still opens no sooner than 30 days after a failed attempt.

Sources: 37 C.F.R. § 11.7(b); waiver notice; Becoming a patent practitioner; OED FAQs.

The USPTO does not recommend courses or counsel applicants on the law; the MPEP and the other reference materials are on its website. What follows is our own advice, built on what the exam is:

1. Confirm your eligibility first, so your study time is not wasted on an exam you cannot sit for yet.
2. Read the source materials list and keep the current MPEP revision open while you study, since that is what you will search on test day.
3. Learn the core procedures: filing an application, examination and replies, appeals, post-grant proceedings, and the professional conduct rules in 37 C.F.R. Part 11.
4. Drill dates and deadlines until the computation is routine: periods for reply, extensions of time, and weekends and federal holidays.
5. Answer practice questions every day, and for each miss, find the MPEP section or rule that decides it.
6. Take full-length practice exams on the clock, at about 3.6 minutes a question, before you schedule the real one.

Stay away from material that claims to reproduce real exam questions: every candidate agrees not to disclose exam content, and OED treats a breach as bearing on moral character. Start with our free practice questions; the Patent Bar course adds more than 1,800 more, timed exams and deadline drills.

Sources: GRB, Part IX; source materials; Registration examination. The study plan above is our own advice.